A Competent Teacher
by MisterFroster
Summary: During his two-and-a-half-year training period, Naruto learned much more than anyone expected. Jiraiya taught him everything he knows, and more. Everyone knew he'd come back stronger, but no one knew he'd be this good. Stronger Naruto, post-time skip. Not OP Naruto, just sped up his development.
1. Chapter 1

**A Competent Teacher**

 **During his two-and-a-half-year training period, Naruto learned much more than anyone expected. Jiraiya taught him everything he knows, and more. Everyone knew he'd come back stronger, but no one knew he'd be this good.**

Two figures walked through the main gate around midday, and stopped just inside to take a look around.

"Wow, we're finally back home aren't we, Jiraiya-sensei."

A large man wearing a red vest laughed, "Well duh, I hope you still recognize this place after being gone for so long, Naruto."

The two shared a relieved laugh, and began making their way towards the Hokage's office. Along the way, they met some familiar faces.

"Hey Akamaru, is that who I think that is?" Kiba asked his large, furry partner. The dog barked happily, and ran up to the blonde, "You're right, smells just like him."

The dog tackled Naruto, and lapped at his face, "Easy boy, hey you've gotten big, haven't you? It's good to see you too Akamaru!"

The dog let him up, and Naruto waved happily to some of his old friends.

"Hey Hinata, Kiba, Kurenai-sensei and… Shino! It's good to see you all again! How've you three been doing the past six months?"

"G-Good, Naruto-kun. We heard you w-were coming back soon. How w-was the rest of your trip?" Hinata asked, fingers pressed firmly together in their usual fashion.

"Awesome! I learned so much, I feel like I could take on the world right now! You all seem to have gotten stronger too, but you're also the same people I remember."

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto by the back of the neck, and started to push him down the road, "Sorry everyone but we need to go see Lady Tsunade, I'm sure Naruto can catch up later."

And off they went to the Hokage's office.

The Konohamaru corps, now dubbed Team 7 themselves as they had graduated from the academy, were accompanying Sakura to the main gate to pick up a report. Halfway there, they also encountered Team Kurenai, who mentioned Naruto's return. Sakura sent the genin to grab the report for her, and then turned on her heels and took off for her master's office.

Upon arriving, she saw that Naruto and Jiraiya-sensei were already there giving a formal report. Shizune was in the room as well, meaning with Sakura's arrival the only one missing was…

"Hey, Obaa-sama, where's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Three years ago, Tsunade would have crushed Naruto under her hand for saying that. Now though, she just smiled. She had learned that anyone worthy of getting a nickname from the blond meant the world to him, so she tolerated the name. Besides, it's not like she _looked_ her age, right?

"Take a look out there, you'll find him."

So Naruto went to the window and went to open it, but noticed something in the reflection.

"Sakura-chan!"

"Hey Naruto! So, you're finally back. I've been wondering when you'd show up."

He smiled, the most honest cheesy smile anyone had ever seen, and said, "It's good to see you, Sakura-chan."

She smiled softly, "It feels like old times, seeing that grin."

"The only thing missing is Sasuke." A voice said from outside the window.

"Kakashi-sensei! The gangs all here, huh! But uh… yeah, I guess he's the only one missing."

Sakura visibly flinched at the name, but Naruto didn't seem as bothered as Kakashi expected.

"That's alright, we'll find that teme and bring his duck-ass back to the village once and for all!"

At the mention of Sasuke's name, the mood in the room turned somber, but after Naruto's declaration everyone brightened up, some even smiling.

"Alright, alright, enough small talk. Tsunade-hime, you mentioned a test for Naruto here?"

"Not just Naruto, but Sakura as well. The two of you will be evaluated against one of my strongest ninja. You'll be facing-"

"Me."

The two former teammates smirked, and looked at their old sensei.

"So, Naruto and Sakura-chan versus Sharingan no Kakashi eh? This'll be good, dattebayo!"

That night, the two met their sensei at their original training ground. Out of sight in the trees, the Hokage, Jiraiya, and Shizune were prepared to watch the battle.

"So, has the brat improved? Can he really take on Kakashi?"

"Even between the two of them, I'm not sure they could take Kakashi. Even you or Jiraiya-sama would have a tough time beating Kakashi," Shizune said jokingly. The three of them knew that even Kakashi didn't stand a chance against Jiraiya, probably not Tsunade either.

"I don't know Tsunade, the last full on fight we had he left me with this," the Toad Sage said, pulling his shirt up and revealing a large scar in his side, "I think he could win on his own to be perfectly honest with you two."

The two women gasped in shock, "He's that strong? Already?"

"Hey, Kakashi was a jonin at what, 14? Itachi was an anbu captain around that age too, why is it such a surprise that he's that strong?"

The two medic-nin conceded defeat, and decided to let Naruto's actions do the talking.

"You know the rules, get the bells and you pass the test. You have until… oh, let's say sunrise, shall we?"

Naruto and Sakura nodded, and squared off against their old teacher. They waited for Kakashi to give the signal, both remembering what had happened last time.

"I expected you to attack me already, Naruto. Seems you have matured, eh? Alrighty then, let us begin."

Just as he finished talking, Naruto blurred forward in a burst of speed. When he left, Naruto was more of a power type. He could take a lot of damage, and dish it out just as much. Now however, it seemed that Naruto had put more focus into speed, and that caught Kakashi by surprise.

They engaged in a battle of taijutsu, with Kakashi's sharingan out in full force. The jonin suspected that, without that eye, Naruto would be wiping the floor with him. The boy had gotten so much faster, and his taijutsu style had changed completely. It used to rely on blocks and big hits, now it focused on deflections and counters.

"You've gotten much better Naruto. I'm surprised, I didn't think you had it in you to beat me in Taijutsu. Then again… it is my weakest ability!" the cyclops stated, breaking free from Naruto and blurring through hand signs faster than the eye could see. He launched a fireball, ten feet around, at Naruto. Before it could hit, a loud slam caught the two combatant's attention as the ground broke up around Naruto. The blond fell into a small ravine, and the fireball passed harmlessly overhead.

"You boys didn't forget about me, did you?"

Sakura dove for Kakashi, throwing a direct punch to his chest. He couldn't dodge in time, so he chose to block.

Big mistake.

Kakashi went flying backwards at least twenty feet, finally stopping after he slammed into a tree.

"Well, you've both improved greatly in your Taijutsu. I suppose I'll have to up my game a bit if I'm to keep up in a two-on-one… First gate, Open!"

The air around Kakashi filled with power as he opened the first of the chakra limiting gates, and his chakra levels practically doubled. His speed before was frightening to most ninja, but now it was ridiculous.

Sakura could still handle his strikes, but Naruto didn't have the strength to deal with them anymore. He went from deflecting to outright dodging, keeping his distance and generally making sure Kakashi couldn't lay a hit on him. He stuck with defense, leaving Sakura to go on the offensive.

Naruto finally got caught, and Kakashi landed a massive blow to the chest. However, Naruto managed to grab Kakashi's arm just before the hit, and trapped him. Kakashi was left wide open for a punch from Sakura!

She took the opportunity and threw a haymaker at her former sensei, pulling back just before hitting him so instead of taking his head off she would merely knock him out.

The punch landed, and Kakashi exploded in a flash of light, his lightning clone shocking the two teens.

"We should have expected that…"

"Yeah, we never did give him enough credit. His laziness masked the fact that he's a genius, one of the best. I'll have to go all out to get those bells for us, 'ttebayo!"

Sakura looked at Naruto, confused, "You haven't been going all out? You're already moving so fast!"

He chuckled, and sat down in a meditative pose, "Keep him distracted for a minute? After that, it's game over."

Sakura shrugged and reengaged Kakashi-sensei, keeping her blows fast and light so as to keep him distracted. She could have tried to go for a winning hit, but wanted to see what Naruto had up his sleeve.

The minute was up, and Naruto didn't disappoint. One second he was sitting on the ground; the next Naruto was swinging a punch at Kakashi's face. While Kakashi was surprised at the sudden speed, he was still fast enough to react thanks to the sharingan. He dodged the blow, and… was hit?

Kakashi went flying, for the third time that night, and slammed into yet another tree.

"After this, I'm going to be stuck in a hospital bed… what was that technique anyway?" Kakashi asked the normally-loud blond, who had remained strangely quiet the whole fight.

"Frog Kumite, it's the taijutsu of the Toads on Mount Miyaboku."

Kakashi stood up, and looked Naruto in the eyes. What he saw surprised him for two reasons. The first, because his eyes had changed. Where they were normally blue and light, they had turned yellow and had a black horizontal bar in the middle. Orange pigmentation surrounded the edges, and his face looked much more rigid than before. An air of power surrounded the blond, an air that Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to deal with.

He reached for his belt, to grab the bells, and noticed they were… gone.

"Shadow clone, Kakashi-sensei. I hit you, clone grabbed the bells. One for me, one for Sakura-chan. Looks like we win!" Naruto laughed, tossing the second bell to his crush.

Tsunade was glaring at Jiraiya, "You taught him _what?!"_

"Sage Mode, and it wasn't all me. The toads insisted on it, said he had more potential than me. And they were right, the kids a natural!"

Tsunade smacked Jiraiya on the back of the head, "How is he mature enough for this? What makes you think he's responsible enough to use one of the most powerful abilities that's ever existed?"

Once again, Jiraiya just laughed, "Hime, you know as well as I that I care more for my students than anyone. I wouldn't risk his life like that. He's grown in ways you cannot even imagine."

The Hokage just sighed, clearly not buying it but willing to wait for an explanation.

"Everyone knows that Naruto has insane chakra levels, right? Well, turns out he can do something that most can't because of that. He used shadow clones to train, and he used a lot of them. In the first year, he had completed learning everything I had planned for him. In the second, he had learned every one of my signature jutsu, at least all the non-type specific ones. And the last six months he focused on Sage mode. He even learned his chakra nature, and now he's working on adding it to his jutsu."

Tsunade was shocked, to say the least. To say the most, the woman was amazed. It had been years since a single ninja had grown so much so quickly. Hell, even Orochimaru hadn't progressed that fast back when he was a genin. At this point, Naruto was Jonin level at least.

"Say, Tsunade-hime, do you think you could make an exception to the rules and do a field promotion? I think the kid has shown he deserves to be a chunin, hell even last exam he probably deserved it from what I am told."

"The council wouldn't let me promote him last time around, but I'll see what I can do. He did do a lot during the skirmish with Sky country after all, so I suppose a field promotion could be in order."

After their battle, Kakashi treated the two to ramen. He _did_ want to go home and read the copy of Icha Icha that Naruto had gifted him, but after such a resounding defeat he felt he owed the two more than just a pat on the back.

While they ate, Kakashi kept staring at Naruto trying to figure out just what the hell the kid had gone through to become so powerful.

 **So, new story. I'll try to alternate this and New Leaf as best as I can. I started rewatching Naruto again, shippuden specifically, and decided that this would be a fun take on it (I'm actually watching it as I write). I hope you enjoyed, if not oh well. Have a nice day any way.**

 **Hn.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A Competent Teacher**

 _During his two-and-a-half-year training period, Naruto learned much more than anyone expected. Jiraiya taught him everything he knows, and more. Everyone knew he'd come back stronger, but no one knew he'd be this good._

 **Authors Notes: So as you may have noticed after chapter one, I'm going to be leaving out a lot of canon dialogue, shortening it to the more important parts. We've all seen Naruto, we know what happens, and therefore I don't feel it's necessary to write a carbon copy of the show. That wouldn't make this original, even though I'm trying to keep it relatively canon.**

 **What this story is, is a rewrite. It's basically a play-off of the multiverse theory, for every decision there is a different multiverse that branches off of it. In this, the one decision is that Jiraiya teaches Naruto, and it's how I believe the world would continue after that part.**

 **Leave a review with your thoughts so far!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Hn.**

The next day, the newly dubbed Team Kakashi met up for breakfast. They ate, and then went to the academy to retrieve their first mission as a formal team.

As can be expected, Naruto wasn't pleased to find out how easy it was.

"A C-rank mission?! As strong as we are, you're giving us the easiest mission you can find?! That's some shit, 'ttebayo!"

"Naruto, remember how I said you've matured yesterday? I lied, you're still a little brat!" Tsunade replied, veins bulging on her forehead.

Before they could continue, a woman burst into the room. She was carrying a piece of paper, and handed it the Hokage.

"Urgent news from the Hidden Sand! I deciphered it as fast as I could," she said, practically yelling.

"Hidden Sand? What could Gaara want that's so important?" Naruto commented, having learned the night before that his friend had become the Kazekage.

Tsunade gasped, her hands shaking ever so slightly.

"Team Kakashi, you are being tasked with an S-ranked mission. Get to Sunagakure as quickly as you can, the Kazekage has been kidnapped and they need immediate assistance in retrieving him. From what I know, you three are the best available team I have. Get going, quickly."

Team Kakashi returned to their homes as quickly as possible, geared up, and met at the gate less than ten minutes later.

"There's no time to waste, let's go," Kakashi ordered, and the team took off.

Somewhere along the way, they met up with Temari who had been returning to her village with Shikamaru. Since they were both in charge of the joint Chunin exams coming up, they traveled back and forth together to make sure all the plans were set. Kakashi quickly explained the situation, and the five-ninja sped on towards the Sand village.

"What… why was the Kazekage kidnapped? Who could gain anything by kidnapping him?"

"It's a group called Akatsuki, and they're after me too. I…" he started, then cut himself off.

 _"_ _We've been a team for over three years now, she deserves to know."_

"When the fourth Hokage defeated the nine-tailed fox sixteen years ago, it didn't die. It was sealed into a child who had just been born that day… Tell me Sakura, do you know when my birthday is?"

Sakura didn't know, but she knew what Naruto was implying so she took an educated guess, she said, "You were born on October 10th, weren't you? You were the baby that had the fox sealed in him. That's where that red chakra came from when you fought Haku, and Gaara. You… you're the Kyuubi's jailer?"

She was shocked, but it didn't surprise her as much as one would expect. It explained his massive chakra levels, and explained why he was always so alone.

All those years that she beat on him for liking her, not knowing that he had no one. He had been alone his whole life, and everyone hated him for the kyuubi and she was no different.

"And Gaara… he's had it worse than me! I had people who cared about me despite my tenant, people who loved me. The Third Hokage, Iruka-sensei, my team; Gaara had no one. His father despised him, his siblings (no offense) were terrified of him, and he was made into a monster.

That's why I have to save him! Because he could have been me, and because he's my friend!"

Sakura had tears falling down her face, but knew it wasn't the time to apologize.

Naruto was also crying, and his tears were dripping behind him and landing on Temari.

Temari had been stricken with grief since the moment she learned of Gaara's abduction, but Shikamaru pat her on the back and said, "Don't worry Temari, if anyone can save your brother it's going to be him. He won't give up until Gaara's safe at home."

 _"_ _Naruto, Shikamaru, everyone; thank you."_

It took three days to get to Suna, and grave news was waiting at the gate for them.

"Kankuro's been poisoned?"

"Yes, and it's a poison we have never encountered before. We can't seem to make an antidote."

Sakura sighed, "I'll take a look at him. If it's poison I'll need a list of every medicinal ingredient you have in the village, the rest I can do once we get there. We'll have to be quick."

The guiding ninja took to the rooftops, leading his charge quickly through the village and to the hospital. There they found Kankuro bound with bandages on a bed, writhing in pain.

Upon entering the room, Kakashi was immediately attacked by an old woman who moves surprisingly quick, but was intercepted by Naruto. It turned out that the woman thought Kakashi was the White Fang of Konoha, his father who had committed suicide when Kakashi was very young. The mistake was cleared up, and all the non-medical ninja left the room to give Sakura her space.

In less than an hour, Sakura had most of the poison out of Kankuro's body, putting him out of immediate danger. In another hour, she had an antidote made and duplicated so that not only could she heal Kankuro but also so they had some for when they fought this 'Sasori' that Kankuro spoke of.

"Wow, Sakura-chan you're amazing! The way you took control of the hospital room, so calm and collected, was really cool!"

Sakura blushed, Naruto used to compliment her all the time but now it was different. This time, he wasn't just doing it to get her to like him, he genuinely thought she was amazing. She couldn't help but smile and say, "Thank you Naruto, that's very sweet of you."

The Suna head Jonin, Baki, gave them rooms to rest in at the Kazekage's residence, telling them that the next day they could leave to find Gaara alongside a Suna team. Kakashi had already sent his dog summons out with the scent of Sasori, and was waiting for a response from them.

The next morning, the Suna team received orders they were less than happy with.

"You will not be accompanying the Konoha shinobi to rescue Gaara," Baki told them, a scowl on his face.

"What?! That's bullshit! He's the Kazekage, and my brother, it isn't right for us to let the Konoha shinobi do our work alone!"

Naruto frowned, and stepped in front of Temari putting a hand on each shoulder.

"Temari, your village is without its Kazekage and you are one of its strongest Jonin, if there is an attack you must be here to defend it. Leave it to us, leave it to me. Gaara is like my brother, I won't leave him to die! You have my word, you will get your Kazekage back."

"And besides," an elderly voice yelled from atop the Kazekage's residential building, "there will be one Suna shinobi going! Though, I am retired…"

"No offense granny, but aren't you a little old to be fighting S-rank missing-nin?"

The old woman smirked, and jumped the fifty or so feet down from the roof, causing a small crater to form in the street below.

"Tell me Temari-chan, do I look too old to you?"

Temari groaned, and begrudgingly allowed them to go, whispering something to Shikamaru before the Leaf-nin plus Chiyo left.

They took off across the sand in the direction of where Kankuro had been defeated, and it was there that one of the nin-ken was waiting for Kakashi.

"We've found the scent; the others went on ahead while I was sent to retrieve you. Pakkun found Gai and his team, they're on their way to assist you at the end of the scent trail."

The team continued onwards, stopping every hour or so for a quick rest. It wouldn't do to arrive there half dead, so they stopped at nightfall to sleep.

Shikamaru and Naruto had their bed rolls next to each other, and Naruto nudged the lazy ninja.

"What is it?"

"What did Temari tell you before we left?"

Naruto could barely see the blush cover his face in the moonlight, "She uhh… she said if we got Gaara back then I could take her on a date. Troublesome woman, she's just trying to motivate me."

Naruto laughed, "So when you told me you two weren't a couple, you weren't quite being truthful, eh?"

Shikamaru groaned and turned on his side, his back to Naruto.

"Alright shadow-man, ignore the question. But don't worry, you'll get to go on your little date because we _will_ save Gaara."

"I know we will you troublesome moron, now let me sleep!"

The next morning, they broke camp quickly and moved on. The nin-ken led them for nearly an hour before it started to smell something odd.

"There's someone here, Kakashi. I can also smell your target, it's not even a mile north of here. This must be some sort of guard, but they smell… really, really powerful."

"Thanks, now get out of here. If you can, get Pakkun to tell Gai to prepare himself, I'm sure there's someone waiting for him too."

The group continued north, and less than a minute later the source of the power revealed itself.

"Itachi. You're the guardian?"

"You won't go any further. We aren't after the nine tails, but I'm sure our leader wouldn't mind if I acquired him now."

Kakashi lifted his headband and revealed his sharingan. Naruto made a clone that fell back and took cover behind a tree. Sakura pulled on her gloves, Chiyo summoned her puppets, and Shikamaru… Shikamaru drew a basic kunai.

"Don't look him in the eyes, his genjutsu are triggered through eye contact. One look and you could be out for days," Kakashi instructed, and Chiyo affirmed her agreement.

Chiyo told the team of the battle strategy that Suna used to use against the Uchiha, but Kakashi just shook his head, so she questioned, "What, do you have something to say against my strategy?"

"No, that would work on a normal Uchiha. However, Itachi uses the Mangekyo sharingan to fight. With his genjutsu, it will feel like you've been trapped for hours or even days when in reality it has only been a few seconds. We have to stare at his feet, it's the only way to combat him."

"Normally Kakashi-san, you would be correct. However, even if I could use it in this form I would not."

Naruto cocked his head in confusion, "What does he mean sensei? Why can't he use it?"

"Because Naruto, the Mangekyo slowly makes you go blind."

Itachi's eyebrows raised almost imperceivably, "So, someone who is not an Uchiha has unlocked the Mangekyo? That is interesting."

"Kakashi-sensei, what does he mean? Do you have this thing?"

Kakashi nodded, and ordered his charge and Chiyo to get into a proper formation. Because he was the only shinobi not built for combat, Shikamaru took up the rear where he could call out orders effectively. Chiyo was ahead of him holding a scroll, presumably with a puppet in it. Flanking her, Naruto and Sakura took up defensive positions so that Kakashi would have room to work. Lastly, Kakashi was engaging Itachi in a taijutsu fight.

Naruto checked on his clone's status, but noticed it was not quite ready so he said, "Kakashi-sensei, hold him for a little bit longer and I'll be ready to go!"

Kakashi turned to acknowledge him, but that slight movement gave Itachi an opening. The Uchiha slashed out with a hidden Kunai, slicing through Kakashi's throat. It didn't kill him, but he was incapacitated and bleeding out quickly. Naruto jumped forward to get Itachi away from his sensei, but the Akatsuki grabbed him by the arms and threw him across the field.

By the time Naruto returned to Itachi, the fight was over. Sakura had a kunai in her head, Shikamaru's neck snapped and Chiyo-baa was strewn across the field in pieces.

"Your team is dead, come quietly or the rest of your friends will suffer the same fate."

Naruto couldn't move, he was in complete shock and couldn't process a thought. Kakashi-sensei, Sakura, all of them dead in a matter of seconds?

No. No it couldn't be true, if it were Kakashi wouldn't be dead already. He bled out way too quick, and Sakura would never let someone get behind her like that, not long enough to put a kunai into her brain. And there was no way Shikamaru didn't anticipate that, he was too smart.

"This is a genjutsu, don't you mess with me! My friends would never lose to the likes of you, not like that!"

He thought back to his lessons with Jiraiya-sensei, and started trying all the methods of breaking a genjutsu.

After the third failed attempt, Naruto realized that Sakura would have to break it for him.

While he waited to be released, he tried to figure out when he got caught in the genjutsu. He deduced that Itachi could do more than use his eyes, any visual cue was enough. He got caught when he looked at Itachi's ring.

Sakura broke him out moments later, and he nodded to her.

"Thanks, he got me there. Kakashi-sensei! He can use any visual cue, even the twitch of a finger. We'll have to fight without our eyes!"

Kakashi hadn't yet attacked Itachi, that was the genjutsu. So, Kakashi threw down a smoke pellet and motioned for everyone to get back.

"Naruto, how long do you need?"

"Twenty seconds and counting, stall him for a few more moments and this will be over."

Kakashi nodded, and pulled his headband down over both his eyes. He could smell Itachi well enough to track him, but dodging his near silent taijutsu would not be easy.

Kakashi engaged with Itachi, throwing a strong kick into the ninja's chest, causing him to block. He flew through three hand seals in an instant, and slammed his hands into the ground. A dome of earth rose around Itachi, slowing him down for a moment. A fireball blasted through the top of the dome, shattering it and freeing the ninja. Kakashi threw a hail of shuriken, but heard them get intercepted by Itachi's own stars. Kakashi launched one more fireball forward, and jumped back to where he smelled Naruto.

"Thanks sensei, I'll take it from here," Naruto growled, "We have to get to Gaara soon, so I won't waste any time!"

Naruto put his fingers in the 'release' hand sign, a poof was heard from behind the tree, and Naruto disappeared from even the Sharingan's site.

"Rasengan!"

Sage mode gave one increased speed and reactions, as well as strength. A sage mode Rasengan took a powerful jutsu and made it into an unstoppable ball of power, one that shred through Itachi's back.

Itachi burst into crows as the missing-nin replaced himself with a clone, and the real one attacked Naruto directly. He threw a punch at Naruto's face, which was caught by the blond with little effort. Itachi pulled Naruto forward, forcing him to look Itachi in the eyes, but what he saw surprised him.

Naruto had his eyes closed.

"You know Itachi, you've caused a lot of pain to someone important to me. I hope I can repay that just a bit right now," Naruto growled, throwing a haymaker at Itachi. The Uchiha leaned back out of the way, but was still struck with a hit that even Tsunade would be afraid of.

The ninja flew backwards, lifeless. His face was caved in from the blow, but as destroyed as it was Naruto could still see that it wasn't Itachi's face.

"Wait, I know him. That is one of Suna's highest-ranking advisors on the Council. His name is Yura, he went missing right after the attack on Suna. It seems these Akatsuki used him as an avatar, to channel themselves into," Chiyo-baa said, earning a glare from Kakashi.

"That kind of jutsu, it's unforgivable but I now see why Itachi was so easy to beat and why he didn't use his Mangekyo. This body probably could not handle it. It's over now, we should continue. Kazekage-sama doesn't have the pleasure of waiting."

The group moved on, and found a large boulder awaiting them with a tag on it.

"This… this is a five-point seal. It's similar to what Orochimaru put on you in the Forest of Death, Naruto, except this is different."

"Yeah, I know what it is dattebayo! You think three years under the greatest living seal master was spent for fun? I know seals, and we will need Team Gai if we want to remove this."

Kakashi looked at him in confusion, "We have enough people to remove the seal, why do we need to wait for them? Backup is nice, but Gaara might not have time."

"Because sensei, the Akatsuki are in there. Sakura-chan or I can't fight them alone, who knows how many are in there. With four of us getting the other tags, only one would be left here and only Sakura-chan and I can move the boulder. And that won't end well for either of us, and will be very good for the Akatsuki."

And so Kakashi relented, proud of his student for outsmarting him for once. Then again, if Naruto didn't he could tell Shikamaru would have. They would wait for Gai, and once those four arrived they would rescue Gaara.

 **Sorry this took so long(it's like a week or so but still, I've had most of it done for that time. Had some shitty life stuff I'm dealing with and didn't have time to write.**

 **Reviews are appreciated, 'ttebayo!**

 **Hn.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A Competent Teacher**

 _During his two-and-a-half-year training period, Naruto learned much more than anyone expected. Jiraiya taught him everything he knows, and more. Everyone knew he'd come back stronger, but no one knew he'd be this good._

 **AN: Writing this just before I post it, rest of the AN were written a while ago.**

 **Sorry for taking so long, I went on vacation just after CH2 came out and I only got 2/3 of the chapter done before that. Came back, had some rough stuff happen and now with Chester's' death (linkin park singer) I'm kind of broken. So, I'll try and get these out soon but it'll take a while to get over this and find the real motivation. Thanks guys, and I'm sorry.**

 **Damn, over 1k views and 50 followers after just two chapters? That's insane, thanks guys! If you have any suggestions for this story, things that could improve it, let me know. I tend to have a bad habit of my stories coming out like battle summaries and not always having that personal feel to it so if you notice anything like that please let me know in the reviews! Also, my use of honorifics is weird. Basically, anyone who isn't of a high standing/has a personal attachment to the person they are addressing will not use an honorific. So, -sama/-kun/-chan will be used if the situation calls for it, as will things like -obaa/baasama/etc, but no constant use of -san.**

 **This chapter, you're going to notice a distinct lack of a fight. I won't spoil it too badly, but the reasoning is this chapter revolves around the changes of** ** _one_** **character, and is going to follow him solely. Most of this chapter is still canon, so there's no point in me talking about it. We're starting to deviate from the path in this one though, and it's about to change a LOT. I might show things from the views of other characters, but this is largely based on one person so that's who it will follow.**

 **Thanks!**

 **Hn.**

It took a few minutes, but Team Gai did eventually arrive. TenTen was looking much worse for wear, her clothes were soaked and she appeared to be extremely out of breath.

"Sorry we took so long, my eternal rival, but Team Gai is here now to save the day!" the jounin commander of the squad screamed out with the 'power of youth.'

"It's a five-point barrier seal, originating on this boulder. We'll need your team to remove each of the tags at exactly the same time, so that we can bust this boulder down and reach Kazekage-sama inside," Kakashi instructed his long-time friend, "the problem is, we have no idea where any of the tags are. They could be anywhere within a mile of the original tag."

Shikamaru cleared his throat, "It would take some time, but Neji can search for the tags with his byakugan. If my understanding is correct from how Naruto explained this tag, there should be a very, very faint trace of chakra in each of the support tags. It'll be troublesome, but it's our best option right now."

Neji nodded, and activated his byakugan. To Shikamaru's surprise, it only took him a few moments to find one tag. He was then able to estimate where the other three would be by judging the distance and the rough location. He found the others within minutes, and so Kakashi ordered Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, and Tenten to remove the tags. As much as he would like having Shikamaru's mind alongside his, he knew Gai's strength would come in handy.

Team Gai all had wireless radios, so Gai passed an extra set to Shikamaru. The group left, and after a few minutes passed Gai signaled that the tags were off. In the meantime, Naruto had summoned two clones who hid deep in the forest to gather nature chakra which he was also doing. It would give him two charges plus his current amount which hopefully would be enough. The group dispersed, and a short while later they were ready to remove the tags, and did just that. They reported that something was engaging each of them, but that they could handle it.

Gai braced his arms in front of him, forming a platform for Sakura to jump off of to get the leverage she'd need to destroy the boulder. She jumped at him, propelling off Gai's arms like a springboard, and struck the boulder with the strength of a hundred men. It shattered, and out flew a huge white bird. In its mouth was Gaara, and he didn't appear to be conscious.

On its back was a blond in a black robe, with red clouds. From what Kankuro had told them, and what they saw in the bingo book, this was Deidara of Iwa. Not much was known about him, but the Sand-nin said that he was a master demolitions expert who used statues as bombs.

Deducing that, being from Iwa, his explosive clay would contain earth chakra, Kakashi called forth his Raiton: Raiju Tsuiga and the lightning dogs struck the bird head on, narrowly avoiding Gaara. This, theoretically, rendered the bird unable to explode and so Naruto struck out. He dove forward in a burst of speed and, forming a rasengan, sliced through the bird's tongue and released Gaara. He formed a clone, which grabbed the Kazekage and ran back behind Gai and Kakashi.

"Gai, I'll need you to stay here and defend the Kazekage. Sakura already went in after Granny Chiyo, they must be fighting Sasori. Wait until they get back out, so they can try to revive Gaara. When your team gets back, send them after us."

He was saying all this because Deidara had already formed another bird and was trying to escape. Naruto had summoned a pair of large toads, large enough to ride on, and was making chase on one of them. The Sage was throwing chakra laced shuriken as hard as he could to detonate the many explosives that the bomber-nin was dropping, and those he couldn't deflect were dodged by the large red toad Gamakichi.

Kakashi got on the other toad and he too hopped after Deidara.

Naruto was slowly gaining on Deidara. His large bird was slow but it was hard to take down judging by the large impacts and many weapons stuck in the bird's backside. Naruto had learned a bit of basic sealing on his trip, and had hundreds of weapons stored in a pocket dimension that Jiraiya had helped him to create. The seals were drawn on his wrists, and he could summon the weapons with a mere pulse of chakra.

So far, he felt like he had thrown four million shuriken and done no damage. At this point, he was just supplying the Akatsuki with weapons for free.

"Alright, Gamakichi, it's time to finish this. I'll need you to launch me as hard as you can at that bird, I'm taking it down the hard way," Naruto told his friend as he charged a Rasengan.

At the highest point in his next leap, Gamakichi grabbed Naruto off his back and started to flip his body over in the air. He placed Naruto against one of his feet and literally kicked the young shinobi at the clay bird they were pursuing.

"YOU BASTARD FROG!" the blond screamed as he flew, but despite his cursing he had felt no pain and more importantly he got to Deidara faster than either of them expected.

He took his Rasengan and struck out at the missing-nin's chest, but Deidara blocked with his arm. It shredded straight through his arm, the nature-chakra-infused rasengan acting like an unstoppable drill. Deidara was left with no arms, having lost the other one to Gaara, but he lived long enough to kick Naruto away. Unfortunately, the impact of the rasengan had knocked Deidara off balance, and with no arms to catch himself he fell from the bird. He couldn't use hand signals to call the bird to him, and so he crashed into the trees at a high speed.

Gamakichi caught Naruto, and noted that the boy had left sage mode. Summoning and dispelling a clone, the blond immediately re-entered the state and used his enhanced sensing abilities to pinpoint his enemy.

Naruto located him, but he also sensed Kakashi coming near him. He jumped to his sensei's position, and told him what happened.

"So, you surprised him and took off his arm? Impressive, but he's still dangerous. Be cautious, we'll take him together."

The two converged on his position, but just before they attacked, Naruto yelled for Kakashi to stop.

"There are two more chakra signatures with him Sensei, one of them… it's huge! And the other almost feels like my sage mode. We should be careful, if someone else has sage mode I don't know if I can beat them."

Formerly, the two ninja had planned on attacking Deidara at the same time using ninjutsu. However, now that there were two unknowns in the mix, they moved into the clearing cautiously. There they found a tall ninja wearing an orange mask and the Akatsuki robes standing over Deidara, holding a severed arm: _his severed arm."_

"What the hell! Who are you? Give me my damn arm back, hm!"

"Hehehe, Deidara-sempai can't reach me now!"

The two Konoha-nin looked on at a scene that would be comical if it weren't so damn confusing.

"Who are you? You're with the Akatsuki, but I haven't heard of any one with your description before."

"Oh, hello mister scary scary scarecrow man! Tobi's name is Tobi, it is nice to meet you!" the new ninja said, his high pitched voice sounding like that of a childs.

And then, from the brush behind Tobi came a Naruto clone carrying a Rasengan. It should have struck Tobi dead-on, but for some reason the clone-teen passed straight through and was dispelled by a quick kick on the ass.

"Silly orange-kun, Tobi doesn't fall for those kinds of tricks!"

 _That was a Sage mode sneak attack, it's dead silent and lightning quick. How did he dodge it?_ Naruto thought to himself as he contemplated his next move.

It was then that he noticed who, or what, the second chakra signature was. There was some sort of plant-creature halfway submerged in the ground next to Deidara. It was emanating nature chakra like nothing Naruto had ever felt, outside of Mount Myoboku where Nature chakra was as present as the air itself.

Another figure made its way into the clearing, in a similar fashion to the Naruto clone. Being silent for once in his life, Lee flew into the clearing from behind Tobi with a powerful kick. This one connected, and the green clad ninja could practically hear the bones break.

"You… who are you?" Tobi asked, his former playful voice gone. Before Lee could answer, Tobi was forced to phase through a flurry of kunai and shuriken that were tossed out by Tenten.

"Thanks guys, you're just in time!" Naruto yelled as a second clone burst out of the ground below Tobi and swung a Rasengan at the enemy ninja.

Tobi phased through that too and, once the clone was fully out of the ground, grabbed the doppelganger by the collar and moved to slam it into Lee. Before he could finish the strike, he was forced again to phase through an attack from behind as a third ninja struck out at him. Neji attempted to hit the masked ninja but upon seeing his efforts fail he instantly swapped targets, attacking the downed Deidara with a Hakke Kusho, blasting the missing-nin back through the tree he was leaning against.

The mysterious creature then grabbed Deidara and began to phase through the ground. As for Tobi, he had jumped away and was slowly disappearing, his body swirling around a focal point until it disappeared from site.

"He's no longer in the immediate area," both Naruto and Neji said, the former chuckling while the latter glared.

"So, they have two ninja who can teleport? That… could change things," Kakashi said, nodding to Shikamaru as he exited his hiding spot in the woods.

"Is Kazekage-sama secured? Gai told us to head here over the radio, we haven't seen or heard anything else."

Kakashi shook his head and, sparing Naruto a glance, said, "It appears he had his tailed beast removed by force, and he didn't survive. I told Gai to guard Gaara's body until Chiyo-sama and Sakura were finished with Sasori."

"Sasori? The guy who took Kankuro down in seconds? No offense to either of them, but what can an old lady and a medic do to a legendary missing-nin? S-rank, no less?" Tenten asked, getting a small glare from Naruto.

"I don't know anything about Chiyo-baa, but Sakura is insanely strong. She's the apprentice of Tsunade, and hits just as hard and just as fast as the old lady Hokage herself. Besides, I can still feel their chakra signatures, they're outside of the cave and I don't sense anyone else. It's just those two and Gai-sensei."

Just as he said this, his sage mode ran out and he sighed, staring at the ground absentmindedly.

Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, gently pulling him back in the direction of Gaara. The group of Konoha-nin made their way back to the Kazekage. Upon arriving, they saw Chiyo with her hands on Gaara's chest, and glowing a bright blue color not unlike that of Naruto's eyes. Sakura had her hands on Chiyo's back, glowing with the normal green medical chakra.

"Chiyo-sama, what is it that you're doing?"

Sakura sniffed, and it was only then that they noticed the tears in her eyes, "She's saving Kazekage-sama. She's reviving Gaara. I'm feeding her my chakra to help sustain her and fight the poison that Sasori gave her."

Everyone stared at Sakura in shock, what kind of jutsu could bring someone back to life like that?

"It's a kinjutsu, it takes the life of the user to bring back someone who just recently died. She developed it herself, and is now using it on Gaara."

Naruto took a step back in surprise, "Chiyo-baa… are you sure you want to do this?"

The old lady smiled, "The new generation surpasses the old, that's what every ninja who has ever taught will say. I'm sure your hokage said it, and his teachers before him. It isn't time for Gaara to leave, not yet. Our village needs their Kazekage, and there's never been a better man to me than this one.

Good luck to you all."

With her last words, Chiyo grimaced as the last of her chakra was fed into Gaara and a soft light encompassed them both. As the light around Chiyo faded, the one around Gaara brightened. Just as Gaara's eyes snapped open, Chiyo collapsed and was caught by Sakura.

Gaara sat up, slowly, and looked around. Seeing Naruto, the tense look in his eyes softened, and was replaced with one of fear.

"The village. It's okay?"

Naruto nodded, and looking towards Chiyo's body he said, "You were taken by Deidara of Iwa and Sasori of the Red Sand, Akatsuki members. Lady Chiyo and Sakura defeated Sasori, while Kakashi and I went after Deidara. We scared him off, but couldn't defeat him. Chiyo… Chiyo sacrificed herself to save you. She was poisoned by Sasori, and chose to give her life to you before the poison could take her…" Naruto said.

Gaara nodded, and went to stand up before collapsing on himself. Naruto bent down, and lifted his friend up with an arm under both of Gaara's to support him.

"Come, Kazekage-sama. We should get you home."

 **Sorry that took so long, hopefully the rest will be out soon. This will probably be the last part of the story that goes along with cannon, as now Tobi and Zetsu have both seen Naruto's sage mode and will have to plan accordingly. Next chapter… tbh I don't remember what happens time to go read the Manga again.**

 **Until next time, thanks. Review please?**

 **Hn.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A Competent Teacher by MisterFroster**

 _During his two-and-a-half-year training period, Naruto learned much more than anyone expected. Jiraiya taught him everything he knows, and more. Everyone knew he'd come back stronger, but no one knew he'd be this good._

 **Notes of le Author: Hey guys. This will be a quicker than normal update to make up for nearly a month of nothing.**

 **Please review, feedback motivates me to pump these out faster!**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **Hn.**

After they rescued Gaara, the Konoha ninja spent two weeks in Suna before heading back home to complete the mission officially. Upon arriving, Tsunade had each of them give a detailed report on the entirety of the mission down to the very last detail.

"Honestly, the mission wasn't even that complex, you'd never think Baachan would keep us in there for over two hours. We got in, saved the Gaara, killed the puppet, and revived the Gaara. It was easy, 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, before he was punched in the back of the head by a chakra enhanced fist, courtesy of Sakura.

"Don't disrespect Tsunade-sama like that! She's the hokage!"

"Yeah, and I'm going to be the hokage one day. We're basically equal in standing!"

She moved to punch him again, but this time Naruto was ready for it and deflected the girls fist. He started laughing, and didn't notice the backhand until it was too late.

"Hmph, that'll show you to laugh at me!"

Later that day, Naruto was training at the old Training Ground 13 when he felt a presence behind him.

"Hey sensei, what's up?"

Kakashi walked out from behind the trees, "Yo. I came to ask you some questions about what you learned over your training trip. I know you said at some point that Jiraiya-sama taught you everything he knows, does that include elemental jutsu or just Toad style techniques?"

Naruto frowned, "I managed to pick up the earth release techniques like Doryuheki and Swamp of the Underworld, but the fire style stuff just evaded me. I couldn't even burn that stupid leaf."

"So you're an earth type then?" the cyclops asked, subconsciously sifting through all the earth jutsu he knew, and could teach his old student. Earth was his second element, and as such he knew a lot about those sorts of techniques.

"Actually, Jiraiya-sensei says I'm a wind type. He just didn't really know any wind techniques to teach me. Shima-baa taught me a couple wind jutsu but she didn't know a lot. I wanted to go to Suna and see if Gaara had any scrolls, but we didn't have time."

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully, "I'll talk to Asuma. He's pretty much the best wind type in the village by a mile, he can probably teach you a thing or two. He's a master of channeling it through weapons."

Naruto hummed in response; he pulled a scroll out from his pack and handed it to the jounin.

"During the early parts of the trip, we took a few freelance missions to help me build experience. A bandit camp had this, they stole it from a minor Daimyo in the land of Tea, and said Daimyo gave it to me as a gift. I can't learn anything in it…" Naruto said, chuckling. The scroll consisted of a few very high-level lighting style jutsu, most notably a technique called 'Lightning Release: False Darkness,' a very powerful lightning jutsu that fires a spear of chakra at the opponent.

Kakashi's lone visible eye widened, this jutsu was easily A rank or even higher when used by someone with an extremely potent lightning chakra. It was like his chidori, albeit a bit weaker, but also ranged. The copy-nin smiled, "Thanks Naruto, I'll put these to good use. In return, I'll try to get you a session with Asuma and some other specialists I know from my time in Anbu."

Naruto smiled, "Hey thanks sensei! Oh yeah… I had a question for you. It has to do with the Rasengan. Your sensei, the Fourth Hokage, he made it right?"

Kakashi nodded and, holding his hand out, formed a rasengan.

"Wait, you know it too?"

Kakashi chuckled, "Well yeah, I was his student and he needed to pass the technique on to the next generation. This was actually my inspiration for the chidori, before his death Minato-sensei was working on adding elemental chakra to the rasengan and I was helping. It was too difficult for either of us to add a chakra element to it while keeping the rotation and steady flow of chakra, so I removed the rotation and focused on the power of the chakra. Chidori is a rasengan without the spinning, and it's a part of my hand instead of being an external attack. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's about what you said. I was wondering what would happen if you added elemental chakra to it. I tried once with my wind, but it practically blew apart my arm and Jiraiya-sensei forbade me from doing it again," Naruto laughed, pulling out his own one-handed rasengan.

"Oh, so you mastered it with one hand. I guess your chakra control has improved that much…"

"You bet! I'm pretty much able to do any kind of jutsu that isn't medical ninjutsu-level of control, pretty cool eh?"

Kakashi hummed, releasing the rasengan. He then turned and started to walk away, only pausing to say, "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto. Meet me here at ten, and I'll introduce you to a friend of mine…"

Naruto shrugged and went back to training, summoning a dozen clones and practicing his Frog Kumate while fighting off all twelve of them.

It was only a few minutes before he felt another familiar presence approach him. Unlike the last visitor, this one strode out into the center of the field, nonchalantly waving when noticed by the blond.

"What's up Naruto, you have a minute?"

"Yeah, I just finished up. Wanna go get some ramen, Shikamaru?" he asked the shadow user, grabbing his pack off the floor.

"Ichiraku's got sushi, so I guess it won't be too troublesome to go with you. How's everything been since we got back?"

"The usual, training my taijutsu and being a general badass," he laughed, nudging his friend, "How about you? Have you heard from Temari yet?"

"Yeah, that's part of why I'm here. Gaara wants to hire us for a mission; after what happened he wants to make sure we are completely prepared for the Akatsuki in the future. It's somewhat common knowledge among the higher-ups of our two villages that the brother of the Raikage is the Eight Tails Jinchuriki, and he has full control of his beast. They also are home to the Two Tails, and because of this Gaara wants to propose an alliance between Suna, Konoha, and Kumo."

Naruto was surprised to even hear Shika talk that much, but he nodded, "That would be smart, combine our strengths so the Akatsuki has a harder time getting what they want. So, what's this have to do with us?"

"Gaara is sending Temari and Kankuro here to propose the idea to Tsunade and if she agrees, he will hire the two of us, Neji, and Sakura to accompany the Sand Siblings to Kumo, sans Gaara of course. Temari and I will handle the politics, you're there in case we need some of that Naruto-therapy, and Sakura and Neji are there as signs of good faith. A Hyuuga and the Hokage's apprentice, two very important people politically, along with the heir to the Nara and the second coming of the Toad Sage and the Kazekage's siblings, there really isn't a better group politically."

Naruto shrugged, agreeing with the logic, and the two headed off to the ramen stand. Along the way, they came across Team 8 who had just returned from a mission debriefing, and were also on their way to the Ramen stand. While Naruto was gone, the Rookie 9 (err, 7?) had taken to frequently visiting the cheap establishment. It had turned out that all of Naruto's raving about the place was well-founded as the food was damn good.

Naruto sat himself down next to Hinata, and noticed her face blush red as she glanced sideways at him. Three years beforehand, Naruto would have asked if she had a fever or other illness. However, while he was recovering his chakra between training sessions Jiraiya had him training his ability to read people.

He might have learned how to read people. He did not, however, develop any sense of tact.

"Hey Hinata, you kind of like me right?"

The girl spit her drink out in shock, her face going from a deep red to a dark purple as she forgot how to breath.

"Not like, as friends but… like like, -ttebayo?"

If her face turned any darker, it would be black. Kiba however was laughing his ass off, "Wow Naruto you really know how to seduce a woman don't you?"

Naruto finally realized that Hinata wasn't breathing, and patted her on the back. The girl coughed a few times, finally breathed, but her face was still that dark red.

"Umm… Yes, y-yes I do l-l-l-li-like you Naruto-k-kun," She barely managed to push out before falling face first towards her ramen. Luckily, the blond had a quick enough reaction time to catch her before she took a nice ramen bath. She was sitting next to him, and so Naruto just leaned her up against his arm so she wouldn't fall.

Shino pushed his glasses up, "I suggest Naruto that you refrain from this kind of up front behavior with Hinata. She does not yet have the self-confidence to answer your questions without fainting. Why? Because she thinks that you are way too strong to ever accept her, despite our protests against such logic," the Aburame said, speaking what must have been the most he had ever said at one time. Hell, maybe the most any Aburame ever spoke.

Naruto scratched his head, "Sorry Shino, I guess I didn't think that far in to it. I just do things, like wham bam, I'm not into planning ahead. It's less exciting like that, ya know?"

"Planning ahead keeps you alive, and keeps our teammate conscious. It's unpredictable ninja like you that make thinkers like me go crazy."

Kiba laughed at Naruto's expense, earning a look from Shino, who said, "You fall under the same category, Kiba."

It was Naruto's turn to laugh, and it seemed like the sound of his voice woke Hinata up as she rose with a confused look, and soon she realized she was leaning heavily on Naruto.

"Oh… another dream? Oh well, I might as well enjoy it," the girl said, completely void of emotion as she snuggled up to Naruto and went back to sleep.

Shikamaru chuckled from behind Naruto, reminding everyone he was there, and said, "Wow Naruto, you really are a lady killer. I recommend you get her home, if she wakes up she might actually die of embarrassment."

Naruto got up as did Shikamaru, the two paid for their meals and walked in the direction of the Hyuuga residence. Naruto had Hinata resting on his back, blissfully holding on to Naruto and mumbling incoherently.

"Back to what we were talking about earlier, I wanted to bring something up with you Naruto. Kumo… their leader has a history with the Fourth Hokage. The word is that Yondaime-sama was the only man alive that was faster than the Raikage, and the only to beat him in straight up combat."

"Yeah, even I know that… what does this have to do with me?" the blond replied, confused.

Shikamaru sighed, "Naruto. You look just like Lord Fourth. Carbon copy, maybe a bit stockier but just about the same in every other aspect. There is a chance that the Raikage might be… a bit presumptuous about your heritage. If he asks, just say you're an orphan but a distant cousin of the Yamanaka. That should cover you up pretty well, and prevent something troublesome from happening."

Naruto laughed, "What is it with you normally quiet guys being so talkative today. You and Shino have both said more to me today than Kiba, and Kiba's the only guy who ever outtalks me."

Shika laughed as well, and said, "Yeah well, I've spent nearly four years teaming with Ino, she rubs off on you. Plus… I don't know, after that mission with Gaara, I feel like I should be doing more to help you out. I was useless the entire time, and as troublesome as it is I'm going to try and be stronger."

What the shadow master didn't tell his friend is that he'd also more or less deduced Naruto's status as a jinchuriki. There were too many coincidental factors, and between all of said factors and the fact that Naruto was born the same day the Kyuubi attacked it was too many troublesome coincidences.

They got to the Hyuuga compound at the same time as another friend, one Naruto hadn't seen since they rescued the Kazekage. Unlike Team 7, Team Gai had returned to the village a day after the rescue of Gaara, and of course jumped right back into training.

"Hey, Neji! Glad you're here, I feel like your family might kill me if they see this. Hinata passed out during dinner, and Shika and I were just… escorting her home," Naruto said to the ever-stoic Hyuuga. Neji didn't say a word as he took Hinata from Naruto's back and began to walk towards the gate. He looked over his shoulder and said one sentence.

"If this happens again, I'll kill you."

The next day, Naruto met his sensei at the usual grounds, and was introduced to two more men in jounin outfits. The first he had met a few times before, but this was the first time he actually paid attention to the man's name and everything.

"Hey Naruto, I heard you were back. How was your trip?" Asuma greeted him, giving a small wave.

"It went well Asuma-sensei, I've gotten so much stronger!"

The other jounin coughed and said, "Hello, my name's T-Yamato. I'm a friend of Kakashi-sempai's and I'm here to help you with your earth style."

Naruto shrugged, "Sweet, it'll be awesome to try and improve on Jiraiya-sensei's techniques, thanks!"

Kakashi began to go over the basics of elemental chakra manipulation. Naruto knew some jutsu, but he wouldn't be surprised if Jiraiya didn't go over the basics, instead the man favored the 'trial by fire' approach to teaching. Unlike the Naruto of old, this Naruto absorbed every bit of information he was taught, storing it in the back of his mind for later. Once the little lesson was over, he had the boy make three dozen clones, and each jounin took a dozen. Kakashi taught his group chakra control exercises, because while the blond had greatly improved his control he was still nowhere near the control of his peers. The kyuubi's presence added on to his already ridiculous amount of chakra made it very difficult for the boy to have absolute control but Kakashi would be damned if he didn't at least try to help get his student closer to that.

Asuma had Naruto show him every wind jutsu he could do, and then worked on improving them and teaching the boy how to channel wind chakra into weapons and even his own body. He taught him an intimidation technique that caused the user's clothes and hair to go crazy as the wind flew around them, which Naruto of course thought was bad ass.

Yamato was doing roughly the same as Asuma but with earth techniques, and was teaching him how to harden the earth while still keeping it moist so that it would absorb lightning techniques whereas dry earth would just explode when it came in contact with a lightning bolt.

Kakashi had made a shadow clone to teach Naruto's squad of clones, and the originals of the two aforementioned shinobi were talking under a tree.

"I have a question for you… before you left, the last thing you told Sakura is that you promised to get stronger so you could save Sasuke. Do you still have these aspirations?"

Naruto sighed, "During the conflict with Sky Country, I saw Sasuke. Orochimaru sent him to destroy the base, as Sky wanted to destroy the leaf which would mean Orochi-teme couldn't destroy us. After we defeated the Zero tails, the two of us talked for a few minutes."

Kakashi's eye widened as he silently willed Naruto to continue.

"Sasuke knew that if he stayed in the village, he might be able to get strong enough to defeat his brother, but it would cost him everything. That special eye you have? He knows how you get it, and he knows that killing me or Sakura is the only way to get it. That's why he had to leave. At first, he simply tried to say he was doing it for power but I managed to get through to him. I think, once he defeats his brother, he's going to come back. Or at least, I hope he will. If he doesn't, I'll kick his ass and bring him back myself."

Kakashi nodded, "And I'll be right by your side, I've lost enough teammates. I won't let him stay away, this is his home whether he wants it to be or not. Sakura would say the same."

The two continued on, Naruto talking about the adventures he had gone on and Kakashi laughing. The Jounin had spent so much time training Sasuke, he never really gave himself a chance to bond with Naruto like he should.

After all, the boy was practically his little brother, right?

 **Well, that was a long one. A lot of down time, Naruto training, etc.**

 **Leave reviews, and I'll respond to them every couple of chapters or in a PM. Thanks all!**

 **Hn.**

 **Reviewing Reviews-**

 **From lol(guest):** **Do with naruto give up sasuke sasuke is evil with manga should be done or in jail life narusaku should be in the movie instead of naruhina would do with naruto possessive for sakura never in fic i did not see**

 **-Okay, so um… A request for everyone. Don't demand things for my story, request/suggest them. This is my story, but I'll adopt any idea I see as good. Second, I have plans for Sasuke, don't you worry your little self about this ;). Also, as much as I love NaruSaku more than NaruHina I am only changing power levels and a few other things in this story, no changing the fundamentals of characters. As such, I won't be having Naruto with anyone during the regular years. Maybe he'll notice Hinata a bit more, but that would probably be it. Who knows though.**

 **From guest:** **Just ahead up you can't make a plan to fight sage mode it's only weakness is how ever long the user can keep it up. And don't say Pein did cause the only reason he defeated Jiraiya was cause, Jiraiya didn't know the Peins was a fake till it was to late if he knew what Naruto knew from the beginning he would had destroyed them in sage mode and he haven't even master it**

 **-Er, actually you can. Pain's rods could pierce Naruto in sage mode with enough force(as in, Shinra Tensei a rod into Naruto). Also, Naruto isn't going to rely on Sage mode in EVERY fight. Deidara was purely because he was pissed off at Gaara's death, and the fight with Kakashi was so he could show off, and because it was easier to show his team what sage mode was instead of trying to explain it.**

 **Naruto will rely on his own power as well, just… not right now lol.**

 **From Novrier, after Chapter 2-** **Hmm, on one side, this is quite interesting and Naruto's higher skill level ad overall a more mature personality are welcome. The best part, he is still Naruto, I mean personality wise.  
On the other hand, this feels rushed. Mostly because you skip through a great deal of things that remained as they were in canon. Obviously reading such things would not be as interesting, because ... well, we know what happened in those parts.  
So I understand your reasoning for that. But rushing through some of these parts makes the story feel rushed overall. I suppose as more changes will pile up, this issue will go away. So overall, this is a minor problem.**

 **-I'm trying to make sure I keep Naruto as Naruto without making him sound too stupid or childish like the anime/manga did. I don't want him to become super serious, merely smarter and more observant. Mature, but in a different way from the original post-timeskip Naruto. As for the rushing, I know. I'm not the best at long, drawn out fights and the like. I'll keep trying to improve that! This chapter is already a big change from canon, because in canon Asuma and Yamato were separate and they weren't teaching him elemental manipulation to do jutsu, they did it so he could add it to the rasengan.**

 **More to come, thanks again everyone!**

 **Hn.**


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